Category Archives: Fantasy Football

No Kane, No Lukaku, No Problems? 31-Week Update Written by @JamesMartin013 Ah, the international break. An FPL player’s nightmare, but an FPL blogger’s dream. Plenty of spare time in which to reflect upon the game, sites that need to bulk out their content and a bored audience who would be willing to read essentially anything […]

I’ve deliberately held this article till Saturday morning so that when there are people stressing and wondering about selection they can read this, put their life in perspective and say … could be worse… Could be Walt from GW4… Firstly, credit to @EPLFanForLife, he has really came into his own over the past few months […]

With the Fantasy Premier League getting back up and running this week we have already had people asking about the potential of some of the new summer signings as viable options for your Fantasy squad. Players such as Jesus Navas, Wilfried Bony and the wonderfully named Ricky van Wolfswinkel have all been mentioned as potential fantasy selections in recent weeks.

In addition to this the recent Confederations Cup gave us the opportunity to look at Paulinho up close. The 24-year-old collected the Bronze Ball as Brazil won the tournament on their own patch and impressed onlookers with his performances.

With this in mind we have a great guest post from the @FootballButler who goes into detail over the role he expects Paulinho to play for Spurs and how this may lead to a change in tactics.

A great football insight and also invaluable research when scouting for your fantasy team!

Another Brazilian midfielder is heading east to ply his trade in the Premier League, and the tactical implications of Paulinho’s North London arrival could be indicative of a stark change in Andre Villas Boas’ Tottenham Hotspur tactics.

Villas Boas’ time in England has seen him predominately switch between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3, the former utilized this season at Spurs and the latter used at Chelsea.

His premature sacking from Chelsea and his switch to a 4-2-3-1 this year at Spurs might suggest that his old 4-3-3, most effectively used during his tenure at Porto, was a striking failure. Regardless of how you interpret the reasons for that tactical change, a £17m investment in a defensive midfielder is a huge statement of intent from a team playing in Europe’s second string competition, especially when a number of Spurs fans would have unanimously agreed that Clint Dempsey and Gylfi Sigurdsson’s underwhelming performances might have warranted a substantial investment in the attacking midfield role instead.

Paulinho will now become Spurs’ third high class defensive-minded midfielder, and it seems highly unlikely that if he, Moussa Dembele and Sandro are all fit Villas Boas would omit any of them from his starting XI. With that in mind, it’s not unreasonable to think that a switch to the 4-3-3- as so effectively used at his time at Porto- could be the framework for Spurs’ 2013/14 campaign.

Rewind two years and that Porto team was quite something, full of flair and individual excellence, exceeding all expectations when it claimed 2 domestic cups, an unbeaten season (by a record breaking 20 points) and the Europa league. It would be naive to assume that Villas Boas’ Porto side was just a team of good players- there were many tactical features to that side, a credit to his managerial ability.

Attacking full backs are by no means a tactical revolution, but Alvaro Pereira and Cristian Săpunaru bombed forward relentlessly. Hulk used his sheer power to cut in from the right to support the superb Radamal Falcao, while Silvestre Varela played a more withdrawn wide role on the opposite flank.

But the tactical highlight of that team was midfield rotation, an uncommon British tactical theme. The system primarily revolved around Porto’s no.6, the excellent Fernando, who tended to bomb forward despite being a pure holding midfielder, switching places with Freddy Guarin who usually had license to get forward, but would drop deep himself if Fernando advanced. With Joao Moutinho fulfilling an archetypal box to box role, Porto’s midfield had incredible variety, with opposition teams completely unable to track forward runs from anyone of those 3 midfield players.

Alas, midfield rotation- when it works- is hugely effective. Unfortunately, Villas Boas’ time at Chelsea proved that the Premier League was better suited with coping with such a system.

Villas Boas confessed his difficulties of applying that system to his unsuccessful Chelsea side:

“Our No 6 [at Porto, usually Fernando] sometimes became a more attacking midfielder and we tried to do that here [at Chelsea]. We decided it doesn’t work here, so that’s one of the things I have adapted. You lose a little bit of balance in the Premier League if you play that way. Transitions here are much more direct, making the importance of the No 6 to stay in position most decisive.”

Fast forward another 18 months and Villas Boas has yet to reinstate this tactic. But that could- could– be about to change with the signing of Paulinho. Whether Villas Boas is directly looking to reassert midfield rotation amongst his team is difficult to know, but Spurs now have the perfect players to carry out the system.

Moussa Dembele is a fantastically mobile player, and is perhaps one of the finest box-to-box midfield players in Europe- the role that Moutinho played in that Porto team. Sandro is perhaps a finer version of Fernando, an intricately intelligent player who almost certainly is able to rotate with Paulinho- should Paulinho operate the advanced Guarin role.

On a final, more general note, the 2012/13 season seems to have accentuated the use of the 4-2-3-1. Bar Barcelona and Juventus, 6 of Europe’s 8 Champions League quarter finalists (Galatasaray, Malaga, Dortmund, Madrid, Bayern, PSG), and 5 of England’s top 7 (Arsenal, Liverpool, City, Chelsea, and Spurs) stuck to the system.

Granted, Barca (4-3-3), Juventus (3-5-2) and United (Ferguson played something like a 4-4-2 that looked like a 4-2-3-1) stuck to their own unique systems and found domestic success, but all three teams struggled in Europe.

If not playing the 4-2-3-1 is a path to domestic success by that rational, then perhaps Villas Boas’ acquisition of Paulinho could be a masterstroke in elevating to Spurs to Europe’s elite tournament. It’s still early days in this highly active transfer window, but Paulinho’s arrival could be the first major clue of changing tactical trends in the 2013/14 season.

FantasyYIRMA.com have brought you a range of articles from some of the best players in the game from last season as we try to delve into the mindset of the top guys to help you with your own FPL teams.

Today is no exception. @JulianZip finished 6th Globally after a fantastic season where he led the way overall on several occasions!

Many Thanks to Julian for his exclusive piece for FY.

It Starts…

In many ways, you could argue that the teams we pick between now and the start of the FPL season, will determine a lot about how the whole season will pan out for us. Yes, we get wildcards to ‘correct’ what we’ve done on a couple of occasions during the season, but the rest of the time we are shuffling one – or a few – transfers at a time, to get to the ideal team we want…which if you are anything like me, always remains a few weeks away.

Is it Wild to use a Wildcard?

What I believe also proves the importance of our starting teams, is a quick look at the FPL managers at the top last year. The majority of them were high in the overall rankings quite quickly…they had solid teams right from the outset. Where they appeared to believe that they didn’t, for example the overall winner Matt and also the third place getter, wildcards were used almost immediately in week 2! So I think it is fair to suggest that your position after say the first ten weeks of the season is tougher to improve substantially, than it is to try to maintain a positive start….that’s been my experience, anyway.

Is Wilfried Bony the next Michu?

Having said that, creating our initial team involves possibly the most difficult decisions of all. Once the season proper is underway, we can look at stats and the performances of teams and individuals until we’re blue in the face. Until then though, there are a lot of variables to consider, and we have only limited (and often unreliable) evidence upon which to make our predictions. For two examples of this, think about new players and new managers:

New players are a gamble which can go either way. Where they are joining from different leagues altogether, we really are comparing apples and oranges. For example, Wilfried Bony scored more than a goal a game for Vitesse in the Eredivisie last season, but there aren’t many examples to compare him with to work out how likely it is that this will translate into immediate EPL success. Looking at the last few seasons of top 5 scorers in Holland, Suarez at Ajax is the standout example where it did work (though even he took some time to warm into it) but when I look further, I can’t see too many others. It is also of course, context specific; we need to judge them not only on their own merits, but on the existing squad options they are joining, playing style and all-important fixtures. Michu’s translation of goals from Vallecano in Spain to instant goals at Swansea is an example of where successful transition did happen quickly and spectacularly…but you had to take a bit of a leap of faith to have him before his first game last year which delivered 18 points. If you can manage to pick one or two ‘2012 Michu’s’ in your team now, you’re obviously going to have a head start on many others and be doing really well.

The alternative is to stick with what and who you know. But, even players who are proven EPL performers can become a whole different ballgame when they move clubs within the league! Look at Dempsey going from Fulham to Tottenham last season…his scoring, and FPL productivity took a pretty big swing. He scored only 2 goals in the first 15 games last year, compared to the end of the year before, when he was a ‘must-have’. The role that new players take in a team is something we can only look at the pre-season to get any evidence for…and those games are usually pretty experimental.

To confuse the issue even more, even players who stay at the same team who have had an outstanding season (and ended the previous season in form) aren’t necessarily guaranteed to be good choices…look at David Silva, Nani and Papiss Cisse last year for three examples of that. Despite them though, I still think sticking at the start of the year with a core of proven FPL performers is the way to go.

New Starts: Mourinho vs Moyes vs Pellegrini

The effect of new managers is a particularly relevant variable this season. The way a team plays i.e. formation; who the favoured ‘nailed-on’ players are; or how heavily rotation is used, obviously have a huge effect on player FPL reliability. Will Mourinho apply his (some would say sometimes ugly) Inter Milan approach, or the more free scoring Real Madrid approach (103 goals in 38 La Liga games!)?. He no doubt relies on his personnel to decide, and looking at Chelsea’s riches in the attacking midfield, it’s hopefully the latter…but we don’t know that yet – the guy is an enigma, to put it nicely. Presumably Moyes will in some ways apply a ‘it ain’t broke so don’t fix it too much’ principle, but at the same time, he’ll want to stamp his own mark on Man United. The team that I am most interested in seeing in an FPL sense though this year is Man City. Last season, I mostly steered clear of Mancini and his heavy rotation ways (never forgave him for taking Micah Richards off in the 59th minute during a clean sheet), but if Pellegrini is being straight with us when he promises an attacking style and more time in the oppositions half, then coupled with the removal of the Balotelli and Tevez options, one or two of the City attacking players might well get off to a lightening start and have consistent seasons.

FPL players who have been around a while will know that having a good year also relies on being able to pick a few surprise packets. I believe this is particularly true of budget defensive options. You probably did really well last year if you managed to foresee that you’d get double figure clean sheets from a few cheap Norwich or West Ham defenders. Stoke historically seem to provide a somewhat reliable option in this regard, but there again is the managerial change variable….they’ve just employed a former striker for the top job!

So when it comes to preseason, the more you think about it, the more you are probably left with questions rather than answers. Personally, I’ll be doing my best to make sure that I have a team with a solid base of proven FPL performers, with a couple of gambles – most likely on one or two from the promoted teams, or if I can be convinced the new EPL arrivals from abroad. Most importantly, I’m going to try to have a team full of people consistently playing as close to 90 minutes as possible. Toward the end of last year, when transfers were a valuable commodity, I found myself stuck with the likes of Harte and Marveaux, which is something that this year I’m keen to avoid.

I did it just looking at stats heaps, match reports, highlights, and FPL websites – @JulianZip

About the Author

Julian led the way in FPL last year including a 5 week consecutive run at #1 towards the end of the season!…Being from Australia and not getting to see as much of the Premier League as he’d like makes this even more impressive!!

My phone started to buzz like crazy this afternoon in the car… My Mrs said Ohh Mr. Popular today?

I checked the phone and a wide grin sprung immediately to my face.

The Fantasy Premier League had launched this afternoon.

She looked at me , then paused, then said …

“You have got to be &£%$ING kidding me… Well you will still have to go to B&Q on Sunday”

Long Story short, I am delighted to see the return of FPL – Mrs isn’t .

With the league reopening today FantasyYIRMA.com will be taking a deeper look over the coming weeks at Player selection, one’s to watch, strategy articles, Bargain options and FPL advice. One of the first things that jumped out at us immediately is the change (again) to the Bonus Point system.

“new Bonus Points System (BPS) that has been created exclusively for Fantasy Premier League and makes its debut in this season’s game.

Utilising a range of statistics to create a BPS score for every player, the system is designed to reward contributions of players that may not necessarily earn traditional fantasy points, rather than re-reward players that already score handsomely against the current scoring criteria.”

While we have yet to see this in action (There is a nice example using the WBA 5-5 ManUtd game) – the new Bonus System is something I wholeheartedly support and agree with – The previous system was flawed in my opinion however it is a very difficult measurement to get correct because of the number of variables and the concept of individual opinion on any one game.

Another link to check out is the full player listing for the FPL which you can check outhere

To save you some time, Gareth Bale is 12M!

Quite possibly the most beautiful yet frightening set of figures I’ve ever seen, given that I know the next 33 days will be spent analyzing them!

It is brilliant to have the FPL back, please keep up to date with us Via twitter @FantasyYIRMA and of course here on the site.

Click the picture below to join the FantasyYIRMA.com Mini-League which has a £100 First place prize this year!

Well, it really depends on how one looks at it and especially WHEN. Immediately after the final GW I felt this overwhelming sensation of failure when I realized I finished »only« 15th overall in the official Fantasy Premier League 2012/13. Not so much because of finishing 15th, but because of being so close and yet so far at the same time. As I was asked to share my story with you by @FantasyYirma, allow me to explain.

Going into the final GW, I had some 30+ points to make up in order to be considered a contender for the top spot and, knowing I needed a huge differential, brought in Dempsey as captain, Carroll and benched Lukaku (you do remember his 45 minute barrage of the new champs in Sir Alex’s last game???). Sigh. Now, I would be lying if I was to say that I was seriously considering bringing in Nolan as the differential and captaining him, but it did cross my mind for a millisecond…and then got laughed at by the other, more sensible ideas. In hindsight, Dempsey was always a high risk selection. And so, after the final GW, there was this one consistent, annoying little thought lingering in my head, playing like a broken record over and over and over again.

Yes, what if, what if, what if? No sense in crying now obviously, but it had actually helped me realize that I had »blown it« already in the GW before the last one, to be honest. Sitting comfortably in 8th place overall at the time, I decided to play it safe (aaarrrghhhhh!!!) and opted NOT to bring in Sturridge. Why? Well, everyone else was bringing him in. No differential. And also, you know, not to take the dreaded 4 point hit. What if. We all know what happened next.

The rest is history. So, the real question for me, after the end of this season, is where do I go from here? The thing is, I know goddess Fortuna has probably kept a really close eye on my campaign last year as this is the only way I can explain my phoenix-like rise from embarrassment after my first two woeful years playing the game (where I finished 1,1 MM and 0,4 MM, respectively – you can read my story about it here). Sure, I have picked up a couple of useful things down the road (and based on this experience, I am already writing another article entitled »6 (Un)Conventional Wisdoms of finishing in the Top 100 in FPL« that I will be publishing in the weeks leading up to the start of the new season as an ongoing contributor on FPL Hints, blog written by @fplhints), but still, I highly doubt that I will be able to repeat such a feat. So if you ask me about the biggest low of the previous season, it would undoubtedly have to be the last two GWs. The two GWs where I actually had a small chance of claiming the trophy…and failed.

Obviously, this was a season to remember (if you allow me to switch to my positive side for a moment) in all aspects. I mean, c’mon, I did finish as #15 out of 2,6 million players! So the highs were plenty – starting from GW #1 when I amassed 96 points with 3 Chelsea players (actually captaining Torres, if you can imagine that), introducing both Hazard and Michu to my starting 11. I believe this was actually a »turning point« (yeah, I know it sounds stupid to call GW1 a turning point, but it still feels like that) as for once, I was quick out of the start gate – up and running from the get go.

The GWs that brought considerable smile to my face were also GW6 which coincided with introducing Suarez (when everyone else was ditching him – btw, I really love taking a gamble on great players in poor form, they are usually on the verge of exploding) and he rewarded me with an amazing output of 20 points (unfortunately I was too chicken to captain him), GW 16 with captaining Sessegnon and him scoring a goal in the waning seconds of the second game to bring the week’s total to 20 points as (c), GW 23 and Walcott’s 38 points as (c), GW26 with 117 points (season high) courtesy of Suarez‘ 30 pts (Enrique 19, Michu 18, Bale 16 and RVP 12, among others), GW 29 with Remy scoring a remarkable goal that had me thinking that QPR are actually gonna make it (and bringing me 16 points in the process) and cashing in my WC in GW 36 for 99 points and a jump to the season’s highest spot – 8.

Well, I have already set my goal for next season – finish in Top 1% in the next year’s season. If you are interested in how I do and get a few tips and ramblings along the way, you are invited to follow me on Twitter where I tweet as @matejp23 and see how I do. Tip-off is only a good 30+ days away and I am actually already looking forward to it; all those Saturday and Sunday afternoons when you are sneaking a view at the points total on your smartphone, while your dear is giving you the eye because there is for sure something to be done at home…can’t wait! J

All the best to all of you!

Many thanks to @matejp23 for this fantastic guest post!! Genuinely delighted to feature him on #FY. A season not to forget!!

If you would like to submit a Premier League related post – contact Ryan at FantasyYIRMA@homail.com

Football and wheels – is there a better combination of hobbies for men? Possibly, but while you are thinking about it, here is a fun list of curious football-related commercials sponsored by leading car manufacturers.

Arsenal

Let’s start with something quite nontraditional – famous football players who are taking ballet lessons. Yes, that actually happened and it actually worked out pretty well, too. Citroën, an official sponsor of Arsenal since 2008, and in 2012 it was high time they got some publicity for that. The DS5 make was released under the motto “The Refined, Redefined” and it was presented to the world in a rather unconventional TV commercial.

Four Arsenal players – Wojciech Szczesny, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alex Song and Bacary Sagna were shown dancing ballet next to professional ballerinas. You’ve got to check it out below – Clumsiness Level: 9000. Favorite moment – when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain seems to intentionally pick up the tutu of one of the dancing ballerinas. On another shot you can see Alex Song wandering how he is to repeat a complicated set of steps .By the end Wojciech Szczesny makes a quite elegant jump. Who would’ve guessed? As Jules Tilstone, the Marketing Director at Citroën UK, put it: “With this project, we wanted to take their top-class footballers, renowned for their refined style of football, and put them into a new environment that would redefine their sporting talents.” I really hope that Citroen DS5 does not redefine refinement in a similar fashion! Jokes aside though – good job Citroen for a funny and catchy commercial.

FIFA WORLD CUP

Having seen a European car commercial, it would be interesting to compare it to an Asian competitor. In 2010 Hyundai was a sponsor of FIFA World Cup. Thanks to the leader in the advertising business M&C Saatchi, the South Korean car company released very intriguing short TV series on ITV. The clips were replaying the highlights of the football games with the main characters being replaced by Huindai vehicles. The “wheelball” look of the short broadcasts was rather weird though the spots were fun and well-made.

Again for the 2010 World Cup Hyundai signed with another advertising agency called Innocean. The promotional campaign included both print advertisements and TV commercials. The latter became very popular mainly for their insightful approach towards admiring the football fans’ dedication and loyalty. The first one: Die Hard accents on the true commitment to the game. Quoting directly from the ad:

“Most soccer fans are loyal to the day they die… Some like to take it a bit further…”

The second ad Baby Name focuses on a happy baby girl father who harbors a true passion for the game and for his favorite team.

GERMAN NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM

The final football commercial in this list is an amazing modernistic ad of Mercedes Benz A-Class. A great execution, fantastic idea and splendid special effects; starring the German national football team. A class performance, enjoy!

If you know of another football related car commercial drop the link in the comments below… I’m expecting a Va Va Voom link from someone!!

GUEST POST: By David Drasnin

David is a freelance writer sharing a passion for great movies, cars and of course football! Always keeping busy and active David is currently engaged on multiple large projects including working with http://rrecovery.co.uk/ .

If you know of another football related car commercial drop the link in the comments below… I’m expecting a Va Va Voom link from someone!! #FY

PREMIER LEAGUE RETURNS IN 40 DAYS!!

It’s agonizing, right? We’re smack dab in the middle of the off-season, the official #FPL site has gone dark, the transfer window is officially open for business, and the only certainty is that there are roughly 2.5 million people sitting on the edge of their seats with all questions and no answers.

After sitting back and thinking for a moment, there are actually some things we do know, but they too are really only things we know about the past and the present; not the future. These things too, as they relate to the FPL season to come, also lead directly to one place; more questions.

When it all boils down to it, there are three distinct variables that connect last season’s FPL season with the season we all now anticipate. They are:

1) What happened last season
2) What has happened since the season ended
3) What is going to happen between today and August 17

What Happened Last Year

Wouldn’t it be great if last season’s performance was a direct indicator of how players would perform this year? I have no statistics to correlate one season’s performance to the next, but it’s only natural to look to the Van Persie’s and the Michu’s and the Bale’s and the Lambert’s and the Gerrard’s and the Mata’s and the Jaaskelainen’s – Jasskelainen!?!? – to pay rich dividends this time around as well. But what about the guys who came on strong at the end of last season? What about Coutinho and Sturridge and Kagawa and Lukaku? Will the strong end to the season carry forward through the long summer and into the first few fixtures of the season to come?

Although it’s easy to assume that that is the case, things have definitely changed; But just how much? Enough to make last season’s statistics a mistaken indicator of what’s to come? New managers, new players coming and going, World Cup qualifiers, Confederations Cup, pre-season tours, time off on holiday, stress surrounding potential contract extensions or transfer rumours. All of these things affect a player’s outlook, attitude, and ability to gel with a new squad or manager. Some players are affected positively and some players are affected negatively.

How much will last year’s performance influence the 15 guys you select to start your 2013-2014 FPL season with? Many FPL managers will struggle with this thought over the next 40 days, and I will be right there with you.

What’s Happened Since the Season Ended
For all intents and purposes, the 2012-2013 English Premier League season ended quietly. Manchester United had long ago wrapped up their title and the bottom of the table was all but sorted. May 19, 2013 seems like forever ago.

Since then, 5 teams have undergone managerial changes – with 4 of them being in the top 6 sides. That leaves Arsene Wenger and Andre Villas-Boas as the only two managers in the top 6 to be leading their sides into the next campaign. Everyone else – Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Everton – all have managerial transitions to endure and the inevitable acclimitization period that such a change inherently brings with it. Make no mistake about it, these changes will impact these clubs as the new season gets underway. Don’t forget DiCanio and Sunderland either – he has caused quite a stir both inside and outside the club with his sometimes unorthodox approach to managing professional football players.

In addition to the managerial changes and full-scale club transitions that they involve, there have been 101 confirmed transfers since the season ended on May 19. Of those 101 confirmed transfers, 43 have involved players moving into the EPL from a different league, 51 have involved players leaving the EPL, and 7 have involved players being transferred from one EPL team to another. Keep in mind that the large majority of these 101 confirmed transfers have been confirmed during the past 6 days!

Notable transfers that may affect your FPL outlook as we make our way through the summer include:

Carroll from Liverpool to West Ham

Mignolet from Sunderland to Liverpool

Sanogo to Arsenal

Ratt to West Ham

Figueroa to Hull City

van Wolfswinkel to Norwich

Stekelenburg to Fulham

Navas to Manchester City

Fernandinho to Manchester City

Schurrle to Chelsea

Amat to Swansea

Kolo Toure from Manchester City to Liverpool

McGregor to Hull City

Mannone from Arsenal to Sunderland

Shelvey from Liverpool to Swansea

Anelka to West Brom

Van Ginkel to Chelsea

Paulinho to Tottenham

Again we’re left with more questions than answers.

Which Carroll will show up for West Ham this season, having finally settled somewhere he feels wanted? Will Mannone start for Sunderland? How will Schurrle and Van Ginkel fit in at Chelsea? Will Fulham’s defense improve and make Stekelenburg a viable FPL option in goal?

How will Fernandinho and Navas slot in at City and where does that leave Dzeko, who conceivably would benefit greatly from Navas’ ability to jet down the wing and lob crosses into the big man week after week? How will Shelvey’s move affect last year’s Newcomer of the Year, Mr. Michu, and his position on the pitch? What does Paulinho’s move mean for Tottenham’s midfield, specifically Sigurdsson, who was used sparingly following a pre-season full of significant hype following the arm-wrestling match between Rodgers and Villas-Boas?

How will Moyes respond to the unenviable scrutiny of following the most celebrated manager in the history of the English top division? How will the players respond? How will Martinez keep Everton’s momentum going with the 3-4-3 formation he seems intent on installing (Seamus Coleman anyone?) How will the circus act that was Chelsea fan’s relationship with their manager play out this year, now that the Chosen One has returned to the team he “has always loved”? Will Pellegrini bring stability to the clubhouse of millionaires that make up the Manchester City squad? What will happen to the poor Sunderland souls who are caught with any variation of sugar, natural form or not, pulsing through their systems following DiCanio’s institution of modernly bizarre team rules?

How will new boys Cardiff City, Crystal Palace and Hull City fare? Are they worth investing in at any position?

It’s only July 8. There are 40 days left until the season begins on August 17. Given the questions raised by the moves made to date and the changes that will have each of our heads spinning, there is still so much more to come that may completely change our approach to the new FPL season.

What Will Happen Between Now and August 17
The greatest league of the most popular sport in the world is never short of excitement. With no games being played there is really only one thing to keep the thousands of journalists whose careers revolve around the Premier League in business; transfer rumors. Log onto Twitter for 30 seconds and you’re bound to run across a handful or a dozen of them. It’s what keeps the EPL world spinning on its axis between May and August. And the rumors are flying fast and furious.

The Thiago Alcantara move to Manchester United has been “confirmed” multiple times since shortly before he led Spain to the UEFA Under-21 European Championships earlier this summer. If that move ever materializes, coupled with Moyes’ insistence that Rooney is going to stay at ManU this season, where does that leave those of us convinced that Kagawa finally seemed like he was beginning to settle in as a long-awaited and much-needed consistent midfield Manchester United FPL option as the season unfolded?

Will the John Ruddy rumored move to Chelsea materialize? Where will that leave Norwich? What in the world is going to happen with Suarez? Will the Higuain deal to Arsenal finally go through, and which Gonzalo will show up if it does?

And these are only the rumors we know about now! Many more will come, and unfortunately for those of us who are unsettled by this fact, the transfer window will stay open right up until gw3 of the coming season. I hate that!

So for now, there is a lot that we know, a lot that we don’t know, and a lot that we don’t yet know we don’t know. The next 6 weeks are going to be a roller coaster; a roller coaster that many of us secretly enjoy because it includes the final pieces of the puzzle that all stews together in mid August to give us all of the information we’ll have available to us for that all-important few days prior to August 17 when we finish fiddling, complete our tinkering, say a final good luck prayer, and click CONFIRM TEAM.

The following article is about fantasy football catered towards the US market ( American Fantasy Football)
Gaming for fun and gaming for gambling, passion lies in both. However, you have to be judgmental and set your psychology accordingly. There are gamblers who have the experience of gambling with football games at some point in life.

As an ardent football lover you would love to move on with this game of fantasy football without the involvement and participation of a bookie. This is a game being played around the world both online and offline, and believe me
you can play the game for some unadulterated fun.

In the last five years the passion for the game has been all the more heightened and most Americans and Brits want to play the game for one reason or the other (Each with its own version). This is the reason the game has been made legal for the convenience of the gamers.
There has been a debate for some time now related to Fantasy Football and Soccer. Is this considered gambling or a strategy and statistical game, basically a game of skill? Now, recently the game has been made legal by following some norms.

Under legal guidelines you can definitely play fantasy football as a game of gambling. It was however, in the year of 2007 that
the game finally came to be recognised as a skilled sport by the judgement of the New Jersey District Court, USA (Case No. 2:06-cv-02768: HUMPHREY ). Levels of government have agreed to the fact that this is a kind of legalised sport being played online and football fantasy is more a game of skill than chance.
It is essential for you to know that fantasy sports can be counted as games of skill and you can smartly play them over the net like any other online casino games (With Live dealers or not).

Talking about online casinos with live dealers, you can rightly mention www.newlivecasinos.com where you can read about this new trend of Live Blackjack, Live Roulette and get more information.
Like the above mentioned options one can play fantasy football online and even earn bonus points. The superb techno-geeks have made it possible for us to play fantasy sports online. Just like you play live Roulette, live blackjack and with live dealers from the comfort of your sofa, in the same manner you have the option of playing fantasy football exclusively from the convenience of your home. So if you have a mind to play this unique sport online it is best that you collect more information on the sport, and Mark Barnes’ new novel The League would be the right source of information for you in this case ( Note that it’s about US Fantasy Football but it’s a very good reading nontheless).

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Strikers always grab the headlines for their wonderful goals and dramatic missed opportunities, which is why they’re worth so much in the transfer market and fantasy football.

However, the most successful strikers over the years are ones that had great assistants behind them and created opportunities for others. It goes without saying that players like Gerrard, Lampard, Fabregas, Scholes (The list goes on..) all have over 100 Premier League assists. Cristiano Ronaldo amongst others proved a world-class player with his ability to find others as well as the goal.

When planning your fantasy football team for next season don’t just look at how many goals strikers and midfielders may score. Instead, focus on their contribution to the game. Here are our (affordable) picks for next season’s top providers:

Jean Beausejour:

The Wigan midfielder earned nine assists last year despite playing for a relegation-threatened team all season. Now the Latics have gone down football betting fans can hope for Beausejour to find a new club before the summer transfer window is out. He shouldn’t be too expensive and the Chilean will always offer great service.

Lukas Podolski:

The German didn’t have the best of debut seasons in the Premier League but nevertheless provided Arsenal with nine goals on top of his 11 tally. Podolski is a cheap buy in fantasy football and coming off the left will often look to hit the central striker rather than the goal, making him a decent buy especially if Arsenal land Gonzalo Higuain this summer.

Rickie Lambert:

It wasn’t just his 15 goals for Southampton last season that made Lambert so valuable. He was involved in 24 of the Saints’ 49 goals last term and is one of the best box players in the Premier League. He’s always a good punt to score with fans who bet on sport and is a good reserve to have in your fantasy football squad too.

Robert Snodgrass:

The Scot earned a reputation at Leeds United for his dead ball expertise and he’s taken to life at Norwich City with ease. Snodgrass made nine last season and can be relied upon to find the head of Grant Holt and Michael Turner. His personal tally may not be too impressive but Snodgrass will always offer a chance for the team.

Selecting a fantasy football team is a difficult task. Remember, your reserves play as much a part in earning you points as those big-money strikers. Be smart with your funds and don’t simply go for a player who grabs the headlines, for there are some decent cheap buys out there if you see past goal tallies.

About the author:

Joe is a freelance sports journalist and staff writer for FC Copenhagen. As a Leeds United season ticket holder for nine years in his youth, he’s seen the best and worst English football has to offer. A frequent fantasy football player, you may (or most probably may not) have seen his team Borussia Teeth languishing at the foot of many a league table. That trend is set to continue.

If you would like the opportunity to guest post on FantasyYIRMA.com email Ryan at FantasyYIRMA@hotmail.com